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Hey, remember blogging? That’s a thing this fellow you’re reading right now has done for fourteen years, long past anyone’s interest in actually reading blogs! That’s okay, I’ll probably soon switch over to that all-video format all the kids are into. Auto-playing video, of course…that’s what the people want.
But honestly, thank you to everyone who’s kept reading this site after all these years, and of course big thanks to my internet pals who continue to support this behavior. Special thanks to my girlfriend Nora, my family, and pal Dorian, who have all pretty much just accepted this is how I’m going to waste my free time. Big thanks to Neilalien, The Most-Firstest of Comics Bloggerers, for his longtime support.
This year, my store Sterling Silver Comics just had its third anniversary, and it’s still going strong. If you’re in the area, drop by and say hello! If you’re not in the area, feel free to give me a call. Oh, and buy something, if you’d like…I won’t stop you!
I still have a Patreon, though my planned regular reviews of Swamp Thing comics hit a snag when suddenly my extra blogging time disappeared. Still planning on keeping that going, though perhaps at a more reasonable pace…I keep saying the new installment should be up soon, but really, the new installment should be up soon. No, really, stop laughing.
Speaking of free time, I still chime in on the Twitterers once in a while, opining on your favorite comic book movies:
…or talking about my day-to-day delights running a funnybook store:
…or relating the vengeance Diamond Previews has exacted upon me for all my End of Civilization posts:
…or telling you about my exciting dream life:
…or remembering this especially-timely Brush with Greatness:
…or admitting this very specific personal problem:
…or just straight-up twittering about Twitter:
…and sometimes my friends pipe up with some True Facts:
Anyway, enough about me posting stuff online, now here’s more about me posting stuff online! Once again I’ve pointed out the highlights, the lowlights and a few of the middling-lights on this site from the past year for your perusal, entertainment, or reawakening of terrible memories. Enjoy, won’t you?
DECEMBER 2016:
The Teen Titans are weird, the passing of my girlfriend’s mother, METRON VERSUS DISCO, some comic book lettercol funny business involving my home town, boy Suicide Squard was not a good movie, so long Carrie.
JANUARY 2017:
Unleash the Youngblood trading card, a nice Swamp Thing pic by a pal and a Richie Rich cover I messed around with, who else dares to draw a connection between Wolverine and the Three Mouseketeers.
FEBRUARY 2017:
So long Dan, at long last the Flaming Carrot one-shot is mine, Wendy the Good Little Witch versus the World, I end up talking a lot about Swamp Thing in this Justice League Dark movie review believe it or not, the award-winning (well, not really) story about Willie and the Bug comic, “The Arch” if you can believe it, BAMM-BAMM CAN SEE YOU.
MARCH 2017:
This is a terrible joke I’m totally proud of, I write a bunch about Don Rosa, I made a joke here about Dr. Manhattan stealing Superman’s red trunks that other people came up with independently and it turned into this whole Twitter thing and anyway I still think it’s funny, this birthday post worked out nicely, so long Bernie, DC’s “hardcover/softcover” plan (parts one and two and oh here’s three), Archie Vs. Swamp Thing, Archie Vs. Arcane, a brief discussion of DC’s Hanna Barbera books.
APRIL 2017:
A little about Logan, rating Swamp Thing creative teams (one and two), that is one fancy-pants leap, a look at the initial installment of “The Button,” what in the comics world has caught me by surprise of late, presenting a Halloween ad in April because why the heck not.
MAY 2017:
Oh my God Reggie, Free Comic Book Day before and after and after-er, we’re very close now to finding out how Nekkid Manhattan will actually be handled, so long Rich, the first freebie installment of the Swamp Thing-a-Thon which I will be getting back to soon I promise, yet another Howard the Duck movie post in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Seventeen.
JUNE 2017:
And here’s another Howard the Duck movie post, let me know when Riverdale shows Jughead doing this, so long Best Batman, the amazing Ing takes my ideas and makes them beautiful, the Zero Month video is both terrifying and beautiful, Brit buttons, JONAH HEX TALK, I sold this comic so it’ll be another 10 years before I see another one, on second thought maybe you’d better just shoot Charlie Brown, FOX AND THE CROW TALK.
JULY 2017:
The Spidery-Mans movie, JUGHEAD WANTED BY JOHN LAW, come to think of it Betty’s legs do seem awfully scrawny, that’s a weird use of dialogue I don’t think I’ve seen too often, who were those mystery Legionnaires (as to be seen soon on The CW, “Dare to Defy”).
AUGUST 2017:
The mystery of that specific issue of Saved by the Bell, always time for a little Garcia-Lopez Superman and Firestorm, you probably hadn’t heard how good this new Mister Miracle comic is so thank goodness I’m here for you, can you believe some dumbass got on my case about taking the apparently extreme position of not liking Hitler, I will be talking about the Death of Superman ’til the day I die, your guide to price guides, I think Helper was probably my earliest “what th–!?” moment in comics, I still can’t believe I had this comic in my hands even briefly, it’s no Google Doodle but here’s a Kirby tribute.
SEPTEMBER 2017:
Where’s my Eisner…nay, my Pulitzer…for how I altered this Preacher page, let’s not do this again, a customer-made Swamp Thing drawing, so long Len, Batman ’89 retail and cultural memories and the market crash and a little Dark Knight thrown in (one and two and three and Bob and Ted and Carol and Alice).
OCTOBER 2017:
Good Lord Batman CONTINUES (here and here and also here), the missing DC Comics event book, Comic Show News issues #1 and…#0, the Swamp Thing Omnibus and an old ad slick, the return of Maximortal, the end of the original New Teen Titans series.
NOVEMBER 2017:
Boris the Bear is here to teach you about variant covers, Marvel wasn’t quite sure what to do with this comic were they, the Classics Rack, more about variants (specifically those DC test covers), a promo for Swamp Thing #60, Valiant would like you to order more Valiant please, a follow the book plug with PAPER TALK, an old promo poster and some Xerox humor, the joy of Not Brand Echh.
DECEMBER 2017:
However tangentially I still consider this a Death of Superman post.
• • •
A very sincere thanks to every one of you for sticking with me for all these years. I can’t say how much I appreciate it. I hope you come along with me as I work my way through year 15 of this silly ongoing project of mine.
For reading all that, here’s a pic of me taken literally moments ago, sitting at my store counter waiting for Godot my weekly Diamond Comics shipment to arrive:
Thanks again, and I’ll see you again in a couple of days.
§ June 23rd, 2017 § Filed under question time Comments Off on Pretty sure there was an episode of Batman: The Brave and The Bold too.
Back to your questions, and that good man Gunga Din asks
“Can you talk about Jonah Hex? I miss him :(“
Well, sure!
The real tragedy of the Jonah Hex movie from 2010 is that a lot of the pieces were right, or at least close-to. Josh Brolin made a good Jonah Hex, most of the supporting cast was pretty solid, the film had the right look…this could have been a good film. Alas, nothing ever really gelled here, and it’s probably just as well the movie gave up and hit the credits at the one hour, 12 minute mark because it just plain wasn’t working.
Now, I joked at the time that instead of ending the narrative at 72 minutes, they should have taken what was at best a mediocre movie and turned it into the Best Film Ever Made by tacking on another half-hour or so of Jonah Hex trapped in the post-apocalyptic future. You know, just like the comics. I mean, what, were they afraid that might end up with a bad flick?
But seriously, it’s the time travel gimmick that makes Jonah Hex stand out from other western heroes, and one that’s come into play in other media adaptations of the character. In both the Justice League animated series, and in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, we are given a Jonah Hex (or Jonah Hexes, I guess) who is an old hand at dealing with people from other times. In the latter show, Jonah and Rip Hunter are already old acquaintances when we first meet him. And in the cartoon…well, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, but I believe the gag is that shortly after encountering the Justice League in disguise in the Old West, he realizes what’s going on and states “oh, you’re time travelers.” And it’s made clear he’s dealt with time travel before. In both series, it works…it’s an amusing twist on the expectation that someone from the past would be shocked/surprised by people from the future. Instead, Hex is fairly blasé about it all, and that’s pretty funny.
The actual Jonah Hex comic…okay, to be fair, I haven’t read a whole lot of the original series, but I’ve read enough, and what I read seemed like a standard-issue western. That sounds like I’m being more critical than I am…I mean “standard issue” in that there really wasn’t anything in the series that wouldn’t expect in a western. Not a comment on quality, but rather just a description. No weird monsters, no ghosts, no time travel…well, not ’til issue #92, which was the precursor to the infamous Hex series I’d linked before. Instead, the gimmick of the series was that Hex had those famous and somewhat improbable scars on his face, giving him his distinct look. And I say “improbable” because I once read in a comics mag somewhere a person opining that if an actual cowboy had had a flap of skin like that over his mouth he probably would have cut it off long ago, and that’s been stuck in my mind ever since.
Anyway, after the future Hex series, the first big revival of the character was as a run of mini-series under DC’s Vertigo label, and it was here that we started to get more expansion of the genres ol’ Jonah found himself in. Suddenly, it was a horror comic, with the “weird monsters” I’d mentioned earlier, living up to the title of the comic in which he’d debuted long ago: “Weird Western Tales.” After that, the next major revival was in the 2000s and it was (as I recall) more or less a straight (and very well done!) western, followed by the New 52 relaunch as All-Star Western, which eventually brought us back to Time-Travelin’ Jonah. Of course, Jonah ended up back in his own time, and continued on as normal, making his journey into the future just another thing he had to deal with.
I like having that particular element as a now more-or-less permanent aspect of Jonah Hex. He’s a bounty hunter in the Old West who sometimes has to deal with time travel and it’s No Big Deal. Those stories I mentioned above were from the comics he himself starred in…that doesn’t even mention similarly-themed stories with Jonah as a supporting character, like this 1978 Justice League of America comic, or that one Swamp Thing, and a DC Challenge, too, if that counts.
Oh, and there was that issue of Secret Origins that maintains the whole future Hex series was still part of Jonah’s official continuity, which makes me happy.
In conclusion, Josh Brolin’s Hex should have teamed up with Stiletta and fought Borsten over control for the Soames pills. I’m sure you all agree.
For more Jonah Hex stuff, I recommend Matching Dragoons, probably the most comprehensive Jonah Hex site on the planet. I’ve written a bit about Jonah, too, over the years, but not as much as that guy!
SPOILERS ahead, but mostly just for All Star Western:
I don’t read the regular monthly Simpsons titles, for ultimately no good reason whatsoever except perhaps “I already get too many comics and I have to draw the line
somewhere.” It’s clearly good work, very representative of the show and an all-around professional package…I just never got into the habit of following the ongoing series.
On the other hand, I do pick up the minis and specials, particularly the character-focused one-shots they release every few months. That’s generally enough Simpsons funnybookin’ to keep me going…they probably appeal to my childhood enjoyment of the treasury editions, the extra-sized anniversary issues, and what have you. Basically, I’m a cheap bastard who wants more bang for his buck, though if you’re going to be one of those people that does a page count and “number of cents per page” breakdown to tell me I’m better off buying the regular-sized $2.99 issues if I’m that concerned about pinching a penny…well, off with you, then.
Besides, these specials usually come with some kind of fancypants novelty insert, like the “Don’t Blame Me, I votes for Kang”/”…Kodos” bumper stickers that accompanied the special pictured above. Okay, I’m still too anal-retentive a fanboy to want to remove those stickers, but it’s nice to know that they’re there and I can enjoy ’em every time I open this comic. Well, until that glue dries out and the stickers come loose, but that’s a problem for whatever creditors come digging through my house after I’m gone. So, you know, in a week or two.
This
isn’t a specific review about
Red Lanterns, though of the Lantern Bunch (“Here’s the story of some lovely Guardians / Who were bringing up 3600 very lovely GLs”) it probably is my favorite series, which is not something I’d expected to say way back when DC was originally threatening to publish such a thing. But there it is: the characters and situations are more exciting and compelling than those in the other Green Lantern books. Not that the other GL books are bad…I still like them, but
Red Lanterns kind of brings it in a way the others don’t.
Anyway, not what I wanted to mention. It’s just that the DC Universe books (at least, most of the ones I read) are sort of wrapping up storylines in order to make way for the “Futures End” one-shots with the 3D covers an’ all that are debuting this Wednesday and hopefully not bankrupting all of us retailers by contributing to insane distributor bills. I talked about trying to order these things before, and at the time it didn’t occur to me that the weekly series event-thingie the one-shots are tying into might turn out to…well, underperform, thus cutting off that entry avenue. With not a lot of interest in the event, there is the danger of ending storylines giving readers jumping-off points on titles they were sort of iffy on, or maybe just to cut reading costs and spend that money on, I don’t know, feeding the kids or something. Hopefully the novelty of the 3D covers will still entice people to continue, but that sort of thing does make me worry.
I am getting requests from customers to pull all the fancy covers for them, so the interest in there. Still wondering if we’re going to get anything like the rush from last time.
When DC, and then everybody, cut page counts down to 20 pages from 22 in their standard books, it felt like the story content were slighter. I mean, technically, it
was; comics were two pages shorter. Maybe it was just psychological, but it felt like there was some kind of event horizon crossed, that the two pages
significantly affected the amount of content present, far in excess of the
actual storytelling loss caused by the truncation of the page count. The feeling’s lessened a bit, as creators have adjusted to the page loss and I’ve just sort of become used to it, but I occasionally read a comic, come to the end and think “what, already?”
That’s a long intro to say I didn’t have that feeling with Flash Gordon #5. In fact, this is the first standard-sized comic book I’ve read in quite a while where it seemed like things just kept going, where I kept expecting to come to the end of the comic, but nope, there was still more comic coming! After I finished reading it, I even went back and counted the actual number of story pages in the comic, convinced this was some kind of unannounced extra-sized issue.
20 pages. Including a two-page spread. Amazing.
A clever twist on what has been one of the more…macabre and great “ultimate fates” for any of DC’s characters. We all know how Hex is supposed to go out (I cover his death and adventures afterward
here) and it’s nice that the last issue of
All Star Western pays homage to that famous death while finding a new spin on it, one that also doesn’t necessarily reset Jonah’s life to the pre-time travel adventures status quo.
And it’s all drawn by Darwyn Cooke, so it’s very pretty looking, which is not a descriptor one usually uses for Jonah Hex, but, well, there you go. I do wonder what they’ll do with Hex after this, but now that time travel adventures for the character are once again on the table, look for his future Justice League membership. …Actually, he’d fit right into Justice League Dark, wouldn’t he?
I’m just going to remind you that a new issue of this has come out whenever it
does come out. It’s pretty great.
QUICKLY NOW: PART ONE and PART TWO and PART THREE and PART FOUR and today is PART FIVE. Also, don’t forget to give me your 2014 predictions.
• • •
Ed leads us off with:
“I had a list, but after reading Gordon and Michael’s suggestion of an After Watchmen, that seems like the most hardy horse to wager on.
“After Watchmen (a one-shot at least)”
Oh, Ed, Ed, Ed…you weren’t supposed to read the other predictions first! Just jump on in and lay ’em out there! But like I said, I was genuinely surprised that, once the Watchmen barrier had been breached, more Watchmen product didn’t follow.
• • •
Tom Cherry pits me against the following:
“Realizing superhero movies is where the money is at, Woody Allen writes and directs THE INFERIOR FIVE. He stars as Merryman, Scarlett Johansson is Dumb Bunny, and Diane Keaton plays Annie Hall.”
I wonder if anyone’s ever actually approached Allen about doing such a thing. Probably was immediately thrown out of the office for even trying. But in the meantime, there’s this:
• • •
Boosterrific lifts me up with:
“DC finally gets around to Nu52 Sugar and Spike, re-introducing the pair as a prostitute with a heart of gold and her brother, a dim punk with a penchant for getting into trouble. Naturally, they communicate telepathically and hunt vampires and zombies.”
Oh, you. I still think my idea for a new Sugar and Spike series is pretty good.
• • •
William Burns scalds me with:
“DC announces a new line of comics devoted specifically to pissing off Alan Moore. The first two projects: After Watchmen and a sequel to V for Vendetta written by Grant Morrison.”
Again, surprised they didn’t. Don’t know why, it’s not like Moore would have anything to say about…what? How’s that again? Oh, he did, did he? Well.
“Hardcover archival reprint series announced for Reg Smythe’s Andy Capp and Charles Barsotti’s Sally Bananas.”
Couldn’t find any news on any new Andy Capp collections, but I did discover that there was a computer game in the ’80s which sounds amazing. Nothin’ doin’ for all you Sally Bananas fans out there, either. Not even a computer game.
• • •
Roger Green makes me envious with:
“Roger Green will write a daily blogpost in September 2013 at rogerogreen.com that will crush Mike Sterling’s daily record of 8.3 years.”
I knew once I stopped the daily updating these new young gunslingers would wander into town and challenge me to duels. But…yup, he’s still updating daily, working hard and writing well while I sleep away!
• • •
Prankster tricks me with:
“Either Bob Harras or Dan Didio, or both, will leave their current position at DC (possibly kicked upstairs, more likely leaving the company altogether).”
Nope! Both still there, planning their mischief and tormenting online fans!
“Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 will both be quite good.”
I thought so, and judging by their box office, so did a lot of other people.
“Neither Seaguy 3, new issues of Astro City, nor a collection of the Alan Moore era Marvelman will materialize this year, because we live in a cold and uncaring universe.”
Well, maybe the universe cares a little, because we did get Astro City.
“Disney will buy DC, Image, Dark Horse, IDW, Warner Brothers, Microsoft, Belize, the Moon, and the concept of human happiness. All human beings will be fitted with EKG meters that will charge them a dime anytime they think of any of the pop culture characters the company owns. The years of tribulation begin.”
I am unable to respond to this prediction as I am in the process of being purchased by…well, you’ll find out soon enough.
• • •
POGressive Ruin‘s biggest fan, Crowded House, takes us (nearly) home with:
“Mike Sterling brings Pogressive Ruin to an end. The very next day, he finds a bomb planted underneath one of the tables in his shop. It explodes and he runs into his overstock back room. He emerges, reborn as…Pog Thing!”
Well, as I noted yesterday — or was it the day before? — I did stop the daily posts on my pog site, but I have updated it a small handful of times since then. I am trying to picture what a pog-encrusted mockery of a man would look like, and, um…it’s more terrifying than you might imagine.
• • •
Dwayne the canoe guy paddles on over with:
“Jonah Hex will stay in Gotham, Bat Lash will show up and cause a ruckus, the All Star Western will see a reboot of Scalphunter as well as the Trigger Twins but this times as cojoined Siamese twins.”
Well, he did stay in Gotham for a while, just not in his original century, what with this time-travel story no one expected. In recent stories, he’s left town, with a forthcoming encounter with a certain blue-clad Kryptonian of some repute.
• • •
And finally, Stevonicus wraps it all up with:
“Superior Spiderman will go the way of Firestorm and have both Doc Ock and Peter Parker inhabiting the one body. Expect a massive amount of issues to be published as marvel decides to start triple shipping the book in May leading up to a reversion of numbering and title in time for Amazing Spider Man #750 some time in 2014.”
It sort of looked like it was heading that way for a while there, until Peter was…expunged. Still don’t know what Marvel’s ultima…er, coming plan is, but there’s somethin’ going on.
“Grant Morrison’s Multiversity gets delayed on into 2014 because John Cassaday signs up to pencil an issue which takes six months to complete.”
It’s definitely not out yet, despite being confirmed as coming out late 2013. And let’s not bust on poor Mr. Cassaday…the man does good work worth waiting for!
“The Teen Titans GO spinoff comic sells more than the New 52 Teen Titans effort much to the chagrin of DC editorial.”
It sold okay for us…and actually did sell pretty darn close to New 52 TT numbers. Frankly, though, if DC could feel chagrin about anything, it should be regarding that stupid collar on Superman.
“Bill Willingham’s decision to finish writing Fables signals the final death knell for Vertigo. Shelley Bond joins Marvel’s editorial team as a consequence.”
It looks like you nailed the announcement of the ending of Fables, which wasn’t revealed until well into the fall of 2013. Well done! I think DC will probably try to keep Vertigo going for a while yet, though.
“Jim Zubkavich’s disappointment at being booted from Birds of Prey after one issue sends him into the arms of Marvel where he writes a new Heroes for Hire ongoing.”
He’s certainly writing a lot, but not at Marvel, far as I can tell. Be sure to check out his excellent blog and see what he’s saying about his writing career!
“Jim Lee will last 5 issues on Man Of Steel before needing a fill in artist. He will be off the book fully by #8.”
It was issue #5, in fact, where Lee was joined by another artist doing story pages. Jumping ahead to the solicitation info for #8, art is credited to “Jim Lee & various,” so either someone’s going to help him with the lead story again, or that’s referring to whoever’s drawing the back-up for that issue.
“Dan DiDio decides to write a new Metal Men book. he will suffer a torrent of abuse online and produce a lackluster effort wherein he misinterprets the central premise and the book is cancelled by the sixth issue.”
The Metal Men have been announced as returning, but in upcoming issues of Justice League (not by Didio!), which I’m sure people are hating already before ever even seeing it. Didio did write the Metal Men strip for Wednesday Comics, that newspaper-esque publication DC did a few years back, and that wasn’t too bad! It certainly didn’t misinterpret the characters like a certain other series I could mention.
• • •
There! Finally! It’s all done! I know I said…or maybe I just dreamed I said…I was going to go over corrections and additions and such at the end, but let me rest up a bit before doing so. Or maybe I’ll just go back and update previous posts for posterity’s sake. You know, for when my website is unearthed by future archeologists. Like when I made my “mummy is close enough to a zombie” gag regarding that issue of Daredevil when freakin’ Simon “The Zombie” Garth was right there on the cover. Man, I don’t know…my brain needs a tune-up, I guess.
I still need to go back and actually answer a prediction or two that needed a little more research than I had time to do, but I’ll do that…IN THE FUTURE! SO I PREDICT!
Anyway, if you read all this, I greatly appreciate it. I’m going to enter the Odinsleep for the weekend, and come back Monday with…probably just scans. Lots and lots of scans and no typing whatsoever.
So I noticed that All Star Western received a slight bump in sales over the last couple of issues, thanks to Booster Gold’s guest-appearances. I suppose this currently storyline may put out a Jonah Hex purist or two, but let’s face it, Jonah Hex is part of the DC Universe, and if the occasional crossover from that universe helps to keep a DC title on the stands that isn’t yet another variation of a Batman, Superman or Green Lantern title, then crossover-away, sez I. Plus, if you’re a fan of a certain age, the certainly deliberate evocation of the mid-1980s Hex series may inspire a nostalgic twinge or two…assuming you were a fan of that Hex series in the first place, but of course, why wouldn’t you be?
An interesting note about my old post that I linked there…I make a brief aside that we never learn how Jonah Hex returned to his own time from that future, that maybe it’ll be a plot point in some future Booster Gold story or something. Well, given that Gold is in the current Jonah Hex comics now, and that we know that Hex ends up in the present day DC Universe at least briefly…so maybe I kinda sorta foretold the future there. Well, not that it’s the same continuity or anything, but that’s close enough for me to toot my own horn for a few dozen words in a blog post.
Speaking of Green Lantern, in that I wrote the words “Green Lantern” in the first paragraph, I’ve noted that the special extra-sized “so long to Geoff Johns”/”so long to Geoff Johns’ storylines” Green Lantern #20 is being taken as a good jumping-off point for a few of our customers, which has me wondering about future sales on the franchise. DC did it to itself, really…it was able to grow its Green Lantern line into four heavily-linked core titles so long as interest in the ongoing storyline in those titles was strong. It was a rare case of reader reluctance to pick up yet another related series being overwhelmed by desire to keep up with the franchise. Not that there was a one-to-one correlation in sales…the main GL book usually outsold the others by about 2 to 1, but there were still some customers buying all the titles. However, now that the story, or at least Geoff Johns’ iteration of the story, is “done,” as much as an ongoing superhero comic can be done, the impetus to follow all the GL franchise books is diminished, particularly with the turnover of creative teams on all the books occurring simultaneously.
Okay, it’s not like Green Lantern sales are going to dry up overnight, but I am expecting some dropoff as folks reconsider whether they need to follow four ongoing GL titles a month.
On the topic of franchise books, there’s that Superman Unchained comic that’s headed our way soon…a comic being ordered in such hideously large numbers I actually had one of our distributor reps ask me “why are people getting so many of these?” The answer is…well, a bazillion variants based on sales plateaus (a Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez one for me, thank you!), plus the fact it’s written by Scott Snyder, who’s had some success with that Batman series, and illustrated by Jim Lee, which is kind of a big deal, but yeah, there’s going to be a lot of copies out there in the marketplace, making this the 1991 X-Men #1 of the 21st century (or the Shazam! #1 of the 21st century, for those of you old enough to get that implication).
I am looking forward to the book, and I do suspect it will sell well, though probably not at the numbers everyone is ordering. I have enough interest locally in the variant covers to help subsidize the order I placed, but still…sheesh. DC cast out the line, they successfully reeled me in. But Scott Snyder and Jim Lee on a Superman book…I think this will be the series that gives us a New 52 Superman that actually feels like a big ol’ Superman comic, unlike most of the attempts at trying (with varying success) to reestablish Superman since the whole New 52 relaunch was dropped on us. And that Greg Pak/Jae Lee Batman/Superman series feels promising, too. We’ll see soon enough.
Anyway, what your pal Mike is saying is that he wants to enjoy good, new Superman comics. Like that Adventures of Superman…it’s not New 52 Superman, which I imagine is a selling point for a lot of you, but it’s swell to boot, so thankfully the hoohar around that title all worked out for the best.
Responding to last year’s predictions. Asking for 2013 predictions. LET’S CONTINUE:
MrJM predicts
“In 2012, I will once again spend more money on hard liquor than on comic books.”
Oddly enough, once we opened the speakeasy in the back of the shop, so did we!
• • •
CW stated
“I predict Nickelodeon will debut an animated series based on the ‘Crossed’ comic books from Avatar Press.”
I can’t help but suspect that prediction was less than sincere. But I bet if someone ever does do a Crossed media adaptation, one of the comic’s fans will complain about how the movie/TV show/whatever isn’t nearly violent/gross enough.
• • •
Bear bared
“1. Bendis’ departure from the Avengers titles will result in a relaunch featuring the ‘classic’ line-up. This team will add new members swiftly, become a bloated mess, spawn many tie-ins and generally be met with a feeling of ‘Wow, never thought I’d miss Bendis.’ The titles will be relaunched again.”
Well, there certainly are a lot of Avengers titles. With a movie that made a billion and a half dollars, Marvel’s sure is gonna hitch a whole lot of four-color wagons to that star. In the meantime, it seems to be more or less continuing from where everything left off, just with the old issue numbers filed off and “#1” stenciled in. I haven’t read them, but it’s Hickman on scripts and he ain’t bad from what I’ve read on other comics, so who knows. The main Avengers title is still the “here are the characters you’ve loved in movies, including Spider-Man and Wolverine” one, it looks like. It’s not quite a bloated mess yes, but give it time.
“2. The New 52 will continue. New titles will be added, old titles will be cancelled, and blogs will still be filled with commenters swearing the whole thing was a mistake and the old universe will return any day now.”
All true. Hell, in this comments section alone people are predicting the Old DCU’s return.
• • •
Bret jumps in with
“All political disputes will be decided by THUNDERDOME.”
This is the world I want to live in. Why the last election wasn’t Obama and Romney in heated battle with Tina Turner presiding, I have no idea.
“Comics will continue to shrink in market share and rise in price. Night of the Owls will not be very good.”
It looks like the comics market is more or less holding steady. Prices are very slowly creeping upwards, though. “Night of the Owls,” from all accounts, is highly regarded, but I haven’t had time to read it and judge myself, so maybe you’re right there, too!
“Avengers and the Dark Night Rises will unexpectedly cross over in the middle. No-one will know why.”
BANE: “You thing this gives you power over me?”
THOR: “No…I think this does!” (hits Bane with Mjolnir)
• • •
DavidG reveals
“Someone will do a massive crossover event in which the hook is the world is going to end in December 2012. The world will not actually end. The event will be lame, and all the new characters and reboots that come out of it will suck.”
I am really, honestly surprised this did not happen. I know December 2012 stuff was a plot point here and there in older comics, but I didn’t see anything dealing with it in, you know, real time.
• • •
Cole had a funny comment that I’m just going to link to
here.
• • •
My old friend-in-real-life Batfatty contributes
“DC will stage a multi-universe, apocalyptic story all to retcon the editorial disaster of doing away with Batman’s outer underwear.”
Man, all I am picturing now is “CRISIS OF INFINITE UNDERPANTS” and Superman is wearing Batman’s black shorts and Batman is in Supes’ red shorts and it’s all very embarrassing.
• • •
Mike Zeidler reminds me
“Mike Sterling will finally get around to reviewing the ultra-special edition super-long director’s omnibus cut of the Watchmen movie.”
Er…no, not in 2012 I’m very sorry
• • •
Dwayne the canoe guy rows by with
“In All-Star Western we will see a story where Jonah Hex sires a bastard child for Harvey Dent’s ancestor, a storyline that was declined for Jonah Hex V2.”
I don’t think that happened, after some brief Googling (since I don’t follow the title), but maybe someone who knows can fill me in.
“Sluggo will be challenged to a deathmatch by Tubby. During the battle they will be struck by lightning as they fall into the lake and will emerge as the moss encrusted mockery of merged small boys known as Swamp Slubby. Little Lulu and Nancy will join forces and enlist the aid of Gyro Gearloose to help stop Swamp Slubby from killing Unca Scrooge, for whatever knows greed burns at Swamp Slubby’s TOUCH!”
This all absolutely happened, in House of Dell Comics #92.
“Also, the lost 192 minutes of the Jonah Hex film will be found and the movie will be recut and released by the Cohen Bros. The film will be a commercial and critical success and Megan Fox will appear for only ten seconds where she opens the door and Hex shoots her dead while saying ‘Yuh trade easy, woman.’ Crowds will cheer.”
Oh sweet jumping Judas on a pogo stick, 192 minutes is, like, what, eight, ten times the length of the actual film? Would it have killed them to shoot another, say, half-hour with Hex in a post-apocalyptic future? Were they afraid that would make it a bad movie?
• • •
Longtime customer of mine Rob foresees
“Doom & gloom variety: I predict that yet another title I really enjoy will be cancelled. Because that’s how I affect the comics industry. In the worst case version, it would be Sweet Tooth, which is one of my favorite books.”
Well, hate to tell you this, but, um, yeah.
“Hope & change variety: My one man crusade to get people to read more odd comics (usually from Fantagraphics) continues to pick up steam, helping Mike sell maybe 4 or 5 more volumes over the course of the year. Fine, in truth, they’ll probably all be bought by me.”
Oh, I’ll get your money.
• • •
Dave daves
“1) Image comics will rise in prominence and market share, led by Millar and Quitely’s Jupiter’s Children (the first issue of which will be in the Diamond Top 20) and supported by a number of high-quality under-the-radar comics that will finally start to catch on. Oh, and Walking Dead collections, which will continue to sell in huge numbers.”
Alas, that comic didn’t come out last year. Maybe this year! And while Image has certainly cranked out a lot of stuff, not a whole lot of it has really caught on. But Walking Dead certainly still is selling like gangbusters. (Though, come to think of it, how did Gang Busters sell?)
“2) DC will lower the standard price on their digital comics backlist (older than 1-year) to 99¢. Other publishers will follow, except (stubbornly) Marvel. Day-and-date digital comics will continue to be priced at cover price.”
I know one digital company regularly offers 99-cent sales on backlist comics, but that’s not a consistent thing. Day-and-dates, still at cover, I believe.
“My pie-in-the-sky prediction: Fantagraphics announces a Matt Howarth’s Complete Bugtown project, with chronological collections of Howarth’s Bugtown stuff in several huge (300-400 page) volumes.”
Not yet!
• • •
That
Augie guy tries to muscle into my own website (hey, you got your own column!) with
“Oh, what the hell? This might be fun:”
It started out as fun, but I will never be free of these prediction posts. NEVER.
“Marvel or DC will go direct-digital with a comic that was unprofitable in print and had to be canceled, just to burn off the completed inventory and justify a collected edition. They’ll mess it all up completely, though, by charging digital buyers the full $2.99 or $3.99 cover price. It won’t sell, but the collected edition will still see print.”
…Not that I know about, but I expect this is an option the publishers are keeping in mind.
“The ‘Hawk and Dove’ TPB will include the 7th and 8th issues. (It’s due out in August, so there’s plenty of time to change its contents yet.)”
A HIT! It does indeed contain those two issues.
“A lower-priced iPad will be seen as a great boon to digital comics and sales will rise, though not exponentially. We’ll never know, though, since the publishers don’t divulge that information.”
Maybe not iPads, but there are quite a few lower-priced tablets competing with them…perhaps they are driving more comic sales, but like you say, who knows?
“Diamond won’t go bankrupt, though at least two major Steve Geppi-related Financial Difficulty stories this year will start raising that question again.”
Diamond’s still around…I haven’t heard any rumors along these lines recently, but maybe I just haven’t had my ear to the ground enough.
“Diamond Digital will flop and be canceled as a cost-cutting move, though Diamond will deny that reason.”
Diamond Digital is still hanging in there!
“DC and Marvel will cut costs by signing fewer exclusives and letting many of them lapse. A new rush of ‘mainstream’ creators will start creator-owned works at Image as a result. By this time next year, an entire wing of Image Comics will look like Marvel/DC 2010. Kirkman will grab at least three of those big names for Skybound.”
I haven’t heard much news on the exclusives front…at least, they don’t seem to be making as big a deal about them anymore. And there doesn’t seem to be a huge influx of Marvel/DC guys yet…at least, not enough to note it as a trend.
“I will write another 52 Pipeline columns.”
WRONG! You wrote 54! …Well, okay, technically, you did write 52…plus two extra. I guess I’ll let you have that one.
“The lack of diversity in superhero comics will continue to show itself, with no diabetic characters introduced in 2012.”
Not that we know of, at any rate. (Though I would bet money…well, someone else’s money…that it’s been done for some kind of educational comics, somewhere!)
“With the Avengers and Batman movies coming out this year, the Superman movie will be forgotten until it suddenly shows up one Friday night when nobody is looking. Only the nerds will skip ‘Brides Maids II’ or ‘Hangover III’ to see it.”
They wisely pushed it back a bit, so there’s a chance it won’t get lost in the hype for the other films. We can all enjoy shortsless Superman without being reminded we saw better movies just recently.
• • •
Adam Farrar reveals
“After Avengers vs. X-Men: Loeb will write a new on-going, probably Cable. The Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning cosmic stories (last seen as the two Annihilators mini-series which ended the last week of 2011) will not continue but be replaced with a new Nova series.”
There is a new Cable series, but not by Loeb. And there certainly is a new Nova ongoing, which I never would have predicted. That’s by Loeb.
“Some softball pitches to coordinate with the Avengers movie: Hawkeye will get an on-going title. Loki will get a mini-series that has nothing to do with the Journey to Mystery title.”
Well done on Hawkeye, no new Loki mini yet but it’s only a matter of time.
“DC will do an Amethyst title that will hopefully be all-ages and self-contained.”
Well…you were half-right.
“The relaunch of the Extreme titles will mean Alan Moore’s ‘Supreme: Story of the Year’ will finally be back in print.”
Would love to have Moore’s Supreme back in print. Sadly, it didn’t happen.
“The new Watchmen comics will be a huge financial success.”
More a so-so success, probably not worth the grief DC got over it.
“DC’s recruitment of Marvel’s creators from the 1990s will continue with new work from Danny Fingeroth, Terry Kavanagh”
Sadly, no…Danny’s doing his own thing, teaching comics writing and such, and Terry is apparently one of the folks behind this online game site.
• • •
Pal Andres sez, he sez
“DC’s $2.99 line will crack no later than mid-year.”
A couple of titles went from $2.99 to $3.99, and a few new titles started at the $3.99 price point, so the slow creep continues! …Andres also made a whole bunch of Doctor Who predictions that I’m pretty sure all came true.
• • •
Richard J. Marcej unveils
“DC will continue producing 52 separate monthly titles, canceling titles but quickly replacing them with new books that keep the total at 52.”
This is indeed what’s happening.
“In December DC will announce that starting in 2014 they’ll no longer be printing monthly comics but will instead produce 52 separate 80 page books (done in the same format as ‘Love & Rockets’) retailing each at $14.99. So the 52 different monthly titles will now be 52 weekly (one book a week) 80 page TPB.”
Not announced, but I can see this as a direction the publishers can go to get around the rising costs of monthly books. Assuming, of course, they don’t abandon print entirely and go straight to digital.
• • •
Señor Editor (AKA Professor Booty) edited
“Ghost Rider will be relaunched, with Johnny Blaze as the book’s protagonist.”
I’m very surprised we’ve gone this long without a Ghost Rider book. Give it more time.
“A new, rebooted and more realistic Wolverine movie will be in the works. Hugh Jackman won’t be starring as Wolverine this time, though.”
We’re still getting a Wolverine flick at some point, but Jackman remains the star. Good, I like him as Wolverine. It might be a bit weird if he’s still doing it when he’s, like, eighty.
“Much like in that one Brad Pitt movie, Mike Sterling will continue looking younger and younger and nobody will find it odd at all.”
Absolutely true.
“The Avengers books without Bendis won’t sell nearly as well.”
All the Avengers titles pretty much tanked in the final lead-up to the ends of the series in the face of Marvel Now, so it wouldn’t take much for them to sell better. And, by and large, they’re selling okay for now.
• • •
Rob S. had this to say:
“DC will announce the expansion of the Earth 2 books in the new 52 (currently Earth 2 and World’s Finest) to include a separate book set in the past, with superheroes fighting Nazis. It might or might not be called “All-Star Squadron.'”
I’d read that. Didn’t happen, but I’d read it.
“DC will slowly add more back-ups to its books (and raising the price to $3.99), including Green Lantern, Flash, and Justice League International.”
Like I said above, we’re getting the slow creep (Batman got the $3.99 w/backup treatment). Justice League International, alas, never had a chance to do so.
“More Milestone and Wildstorm properties are given a shot at a title. We’ll see Icon, Shadow Cabinet, and Zealot.”
…I’d love to see a new Icon series. But we did get Team 7, and Ravagers includes a Wildstorm character or two.
“Steph Brown and Cass Cain fans will continue to be disappointed and vocal. Heckler fans will continue to be disappointed and quiet.”
Fans are always disappointed. Except Heckler fans, who are just crazy.
“We’ll see a Wally West, Kyle Rayner, Connor Hawke team-up. Alternate Earth or DC Comics Presents reprint?”
Neither, I’m afraid!
• • •
Boosterific boosts
“Bah, I’m already over 2012! I’m skipping ahead to 2013: Progressive Ruin will run a fortnight’s worth of blog posts recapping the reviews for 2012 in a disorganized, rambling manner that will be equal parts un-illuminating and hilarious.”
Well, slightly less than a fortnight, anyway. And I’d like to think I’m a little illuminating, even if I’m not very bright.
• • •
Valdemiro gives us
“In 2012 Brian Michael Bendis finally collaborates with Kevin Maguire on the Avengers. They then create a headshot panel so beautiful it makes mere mortals weep.”
I’d like to see a Kevin Maguire Avengers series. Unfortunately, they’d just start yet another brand new Avengers series rather than put him on an already-going Avengers title.
• • •
Glitchy glitches
“DC will suddenly discover the pre-teen girl ‘princess’ market (possibly thanks to the Super Best Friends and Amethyst shorts). Because of this, editorial mandate revamps Starfire back to something closer to her animated Teen Titans persona.”
Hasn’t happened yet, but it really, really should.
“This also leads to a My Little Pony/DC cross over that just defied all forms of logic, but was very pastel.”
C’mon: “Comet the Superhorse meets My Little Pony!” It’s a natural!
• • •
Kid Kyoto isn’t kidding with
“DC will try a black and white manga-style phone book anthology with several 100 pages each month. The best series from that will then be colored and reprinted in TPBs.”
Another viable option for when the monthly 32-pagers go south. Hasn’t happened…yet.
“Real publishers like Scholastic Books will continue to make OGNs that outsell anything by DC or Marvel, mainstream comic fans will continue to ignore them.”
Yeah, probably.
“The EXTREME! Studios relaunch (Youngblood etc) will barely put out 3 issues before sinking quietly into the darkness.”
They’re all still hanging around, but just barely (despite critical acclaim for Prophet).
“The Superman film will bomb.”
Maybe next year.
“Superman will be back in his traditional suit about 15 minutes after the film closes.”
I expect that, too.
“New rumors of a Wonder Woman film which go no where.”
We can probably run with this prediction every year.
“The Avengers film will actually be quite good.”
I thought it was a lot of fun! I think a few others thought so as well.
• • •
Ben unleashes
“DC will announce that Grant Morrison’s run on Action Comics will end in early 2013, the same month as Batman Incorporated v2 #12 ships. Morrison will simultaneously announce his retirement from writing comic books.”
We’re still a few months away from Batman Inc. #12, but Morrison is ending his runs on both titles this year (with Action imminent). I think he’s sticking around in comics, though…just not necessarily the superhero books.
“The Avengers movie will be mildly entertaining but strangely empty of any engaging emotional content, just like all of Marvel’s movies since Iron Man. The announcement of their post-Avengers movie slate is met by bewilderment (by comic fans) and blank stares (by the general public) as ‘big guns’ like Ant Man and Guardians of the Galaxy are rolled out.”
That certainly is a consistent criticism of the Marvel films…like I said, I did enjoy the Avengers film, but it’s definitely about as deep as a sidewalk puddle after a spring shower. And I think folks are probably okay with the new slate of Marvel films, though they really haven’t been trying to sell them to the public just yet. We’ll see when the films get a little closer to release.
“The Dark Knight Returns animated movie(s) will, like almost all of DC’s DVD movie fare, be entirely unsuitable for kids to watch. But…”
Yeah, that’s probably best with teens and older. But kids will love it just fine, I think!
“…DC will unexpectedly find a long-dormant property that hits big time with the (actual) kids, probably via the DC Nation slot on Cartoon Network. What the hell, lets just say Amethyst. My daughter would *love* that show.”
I think DC Nation has generally been well received, but I don’t know that anything’s really taken off as a “hit.” But that there’s even such a thing as an Amethyst animated short is a victory of some kind.
“China Mieville’s Dial H for Hero revival will be excellent and universally liked by the comics blogosphere, but commercially it will fail dismally and be canceled by issue 8.”
It’s not selling great, but it’s holding on, and people do seem to like it quite a bit.
“Dan Slott will replace Brian Michael Bendis on the Avengers books, as Bendis takes over Amazing Spider-Man. Marvel will continue to pimp the hell out of Matt Fraction despite the fact that (Casanova aside, though that doesn’t even really count) he has never written a good comic book for them.”
OUCH. I think Fraction’s been doing good work over there, at least on the titles of his I read (Fantastic Four, FF, and the very well-received Hawkeye). And there has been plenty of swapping around of writers on the Marvel books, but Slott is still riding that Spider-Man train…um, there’s probably a better way I could have put that.
“The Ultimate Comics ‘free download’ thing is a dismal failure (though we never hear about it) and the whole line is shuttered either in late 2012 or announced to in early 2013.”
I’m not even sure I know about the free download thing. But the Ultimate line is still around, somehow.
“Vertigo will announce that Hellblazer will end with #300 and the death of John Constantine.”
Yes, indeed. I don’t know if it’ll be Constantine’s death, but I think it’s likely…a kind of a final “screw you” to the character’s transfer to the DCU.
“And finally, Sony will release a ‘skin’ for DC Online that make it both bearable to look at and as though it was all drawn by Carmine Infantino. More a wish than a prediction really…”
Man, an Infantino-styled video game. That would be both awesome and strangely terrifying.
• • •
Neil brought forth
“Tony Daniel will be taken off Detective Comics, as they will have found someone even worse.”
DOUBLE-OUCH. He was off Detective with the #0/#12 issues, but I’ll have to let you decide if the new guy is worse. Daniel will be back as the new artist on Action after Morrison leaves.
• • •
random surfer goofyfooted
“Late Dec/early Jan: Mike Sterling will ask people for preditions for 2013. He will comment on the predictions made for 2012. He will say this one is stupid and/or pointless.”
Nope, I’d say you’re 100% on target.
• • •
OH THANK GOD I’m done, which I’m sure you’re all thinking, too. Tune in next year when I do it again, reacting to
these 2013 predictions, because I’m stupid.
Thanks for contributing, everyone, and, especially, thanks for putting up with these endless posts. I appreciate the readership.
I…really wasn’t sure what I was planning when I asked you folks what you thought about DC’s New 52 thus far, whether I was going to comment on the responses individually, or do some kind of meta-analysis, or what. And frankly, my need to address that post, at least in my mind, has been looming over me like a really large thing that loomed over me.
I think what I’m going to do here is borrow this list of the New 52 that Siskoid already typed out in his comment, and briefly discuss each book (or family of books) in regards to customer reaction, sales, etc., and let that stand as my final (or at least part one of my final) response to the matter. But honestly, thank all of you who took the time to leave comments…I read every one, and found them informative and interesting.
So, here we go…the first half of my comments on the whole shebang:
Action Comics – Like I said the last time I attempted this, there seems to be a vague level of disappointment from some quarters regarding the pacing of this comic, but plenty of people seem to like it just fine, and it’s certainly one of the top sellers of the New 52 here at the shop. And I think people who haven’t liked the last couple of issues may enjoy #5, due out…today, in fact, and I’m not saying I’ve already read it, but may very well have, and it may respark some interest from those of you out there who have been less than enthralled with the title. (Also, I saw some folks out there in Internet-land who are somehow using what they’ve seen in previews for #5 as more ammo for their ol’ “Grant Morrison hates superheroes/the Silver Age” complaints, which is just crazy-talk from Crazytown, frankly.)
All-Star Western – Started off well, but seems to be back down to the folks who had already been buying the Jonah Hex…plus one or two more, so, you know, there’s been some improvement.
Animal Man – Probably one of the Big Surprises of the New 52, selling well and critically acclaimed — nice when those two qualities actually match up with each other on the same thing. The comic is very good, though (like I feel with many of the other comics) the pacing could stand to pick up a bit. It is quite a compellingly-disturbing story, one of the few true examples of a superhero horror comic. (Steve Gerber and Gene Colan’s The Phantom Zone (scroll down to #1) being another strong example, I think.)
Aquaman – Another surprise hit, and one customers seem to be talking about the most. Mostly in the context of “wow, I can’t believe I’m digging an Aquaman comic this much!” …It has been pretty good, I think.
Batgirl – This one’s been getting pretty mixed reviews from the get-go, though I thought it was pretty entertaining. And it’s certainly selling very well for us.
Batman, Batman and Robin, Batman: The Dark Knight, Detective Comics – All these Batman books have seen a definite uptick in sales since the relaunch, though most of them had been selling pretty well to begin with. Detective probably benefited the most.
Batwing – A low to mid-range seller, still doing better than expected considering it’s a Batman spin-off not featuring one of the main Bat-family.
Batwoman – Solid mid-range seller…the art definitely sells the book. Brings in people who don’t normally buy comics.
Birds of Prey, Blue Beetle, Deathstroke – Selling okay, which is really better than I expected Deathstroke to do, to be honest. But otherwise, not really generating a whole lot of chatter or specific enthusiasm from the customers.
Blackhawks – Probably one of the lower-selling of the New 52. Have had a couple of customers note that the art really didn’t do anything for them.
Captain Atom – Good mid-range seller…haven’t really paid any attention to it, though people telling me (at the store and in the comments to that post) that it’s kind of a riff on Watchmen‘s Doctor Manhattan sort of has me intrigued.
Catwoman – I know people complained about the ridiculousexy in the first issue, but man, people do like Catwoman, regardless. Solid midrange seller.
DC Universe Presents – Good seller, will be interested to see if sales change when this series switches from Deadman to the Challengers of the Unknown. (Just had the thought that the series should just cumulatively add characters to the rotating stories. The first arc would be just Deadman, the second would be Deadman and the Challengers, the third would be Deadman, the Challs, and, oh, I don’t know, the Omega Men, and so on. Would be quite the sight by the time issue #50 rolled around.)
Demon Knights – Considering the setting is in Ye Olden Dayes, and that it stars a lot of the magical DC characters…actually selling a lot better than expected. …There’s probably more characters in here than the book can really comfortably handle, but it makes for an entertaining read nonetheless.
Flash – Strong seller, and I’m being told it’s actually quite good. Alas, I’d pretty much hit my limit on how many Flash stories I can read, and dropped the franchise a year or two back, but people telling me it’s good got me to poke my nose into an issue or two recently. Sadly, it still didn’t do anything for me, but I’m glad people are enjoying it.
Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. – One humdinger of a book…maybe a little too out there for most folks, but quite the treat for the reader who dares peek inside its covers. Like OMAC (discussed tomorrow), it’s one of those well-admired titles that has a small but loyal following. …It’s kinda like the DC Universe version of Hellboy, and that’s just fine.
Fury of Firestorm – Mentioned this in my initial post (which I’m not going to link to yet again in this post)…didn’t grab me at first, but it’s slowly growing on me now that I’ve wrapped my mind around the idea that this particular take is different from the one I’ve been used to for the last decade or three. Maintaining okay sales at the shop.
Green Arrow – Small gain in sales since the relaunch. Haven’t really heard any buzz good or bad about this title. It’s a Green Arrow comic that’s selling okay, so I’m not going to complain. Well, Swamp Thing’s not in it, so I’ll complain about that, anyway.
Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern: New Guardians, Red Lanterns – Still probably about one or two GL titles too many, but…well, they all have some entertainment value, and they’re all selling well so far. So long as they don’t add a fifth Lantern title, and honestly I wouldn’t put it past them. Anyway, Green Lantern is the best, and the best-selling, of the bunch, with the ongoing Hal Jordan/Sinestro disfunctional bromance. Man, I hope this stays a cop/buddy book, because I love reading Sinestro stories and the dynamic between him and Hal makes for a fun read. I’ve mentioned before, once or twice, about how Sinestro is one of my favorite supervillains. In fact, I’d be okay with a fifth GL book if Sinestro was kicked out of the main GL book and given his own ongoing series.
Corps and New Guardians aren’t bad, but I think I’m ready for those initial storylines to be over. But Larfleeze finally showed up in the latter series, and Everyone Loves Larfleeze so that series just shot up in quality for me, as far as I’m concerned. And Red Lanterns is interesting sort of despite itself, what with all the blood and grossness and characters being dicks to each other and whatnot, and yet still being readable. Yeah, I know, it’s hard to explain. Still needs to just turn into a Dex-Starr solo book. (And maybe he can team up with that cat from Animal Man.)
…Come back tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of my overview of the New 52! …Ah, c’mon, come back. …Please?
REMINDER: let me know what the ONE new DC title you’re looking forward to the most is. I’ll probably comment on your response tomorrow, assuming I don’t die tonight while breaking down the comics order, doing pulls, and suffering from flu symptoms.
Anyway, those questions a couple of you asked about DC’s current publishing plan, and how it affects me, Mike Sterling:
Boosteriffic says
“It seems to me that DC has been telling us that part of the reason for this whole rebootalaunch is because retailers aren’t doing their job finding new customers (probably true: I don’t live in a major city, but all the comic stores I know of are really gaming stores with some reading material for between matches), and it seems I hear retailers saying it’s because DC’s business model and storytelling are alienating their readers (of which I am certainly one: now I have to wait six issues to finish a story the bronze age Batman would have tackled in one?). Do you have any insight into the validity of this back and forth argument?”
There are a lot of reasons for sales reaching the point that triggered DC’s newest publishing hoohar, but I don’t think it’s as easy as saying “retailers fell down on the job” or “DC alienated its readers.” Not that either assumption is necessarily wrong: we’ve all been to comic shops that seemingly didn’t go out of the way to encourage business, repeat or otherwise. And what Boosteriffic says about DC applies to Marvel as well, with extended storylines intended to keep readers coming back month after month, and designed for republication in trade paperbacks or hardcover editions, which can in some (but not necessarily all) cases result in story-padding and less satisfying reads.
But there’s also the death-spiral of lower sales = higher per-unit prices = higher cover prices = even lower sales = even higher production costs, and so on. And there’s the economy in general, which, at the moment, isn’t exactly facilitating the generation of disposal income. Plus there’s also the usual explanations of increased competition for the entertainment dollar, the lack of an audience turnover for comics, the insular nature of superhero comics, the difficulty of even finding comics, and so on. You’ve heard all the reasons before.
Boosteriffic adds:
“…Will you be closing the doors if this whatever-DC-is-calling-it doesn’t take off because your comic sales have flatlined?”
In our case, comic sales have been increasing…slowly, but steadily. And judging by demand for the new Justice League #1 and the interest we’ve seen in DC’s next batch of first issues, we’re expecting a bit of a bump in sales over the next few weeks. Whether that bump sticks, even as a slight net gain after the initial excitement over the new launches peters out and we see what the sales levels on these titles will actually be, remains to be seen. But I’m optimistic. My fear was that our upward store sales trend may have been derailed by DC cancelling everything and starting again, alienating the readership we were building, but for the most part that doesn’t seem to be happening. But, you know, in six months or a year or so, we’ll know for sure.
Now, that’s what’s going on for us, but if other stores end up with a net loss in readership for their DCs, to the point where Warner Brothers tells DC “nice try, kids, but we’re handing all your properties over the movie and television development departments,” and DC Comics as a publishing concern goes away…that’s bad news for everybody. Not that I think that will happen. But let’s say it does, and DC Comics are no longer on your local funnybook store’s rack. That’s a pretty significant chunk of income lost for your comic shop. And some comic shops wouldn’t survive that loss…and when those shops close up, that means fewer venues through which the other comic companies can sell their wares, which results in lower profits for them, and comic publishers going out of business, and lower profits for shops…I hate to use the phrase “death-spiral” twice in one post, but you get the picture.
And, as folks have noted in the past, the death of the comics market as it is now doesn’t mean the death of comics. As long as people can tell stories through sequential images, there’ll be comics. They’ll just be sold and / or distributed via different means. Like through this “internet” I’ve heard so much about.
Not that the very concept of “comic book store” would go away if there were no longer any periodicals as we know them now. After all, there are still record stores. I can see our shop holding on, downsized significantly, still dealing in old comics to an increasingly specialized clientele. And there will still be some publishing holdouts and novelty press, putting out limited runs of staplebound entertainments for the discerning reader, that we could carry.
Also, in this post-apocalyptic future, we will fight each other to the death in Thunderdome, but that probably goes without saying.
Dallas has a few questions as well:
“Does it make any lick of retail sense to be out of a fairly big comic after 1 day?
Is/was there a program through Diamond/DC that could get you more comics as quick as Fri/Sat or Monday 9/5?
I assume that you won’t get the reorder till the week of September 12, so how many sales are lost?”
I’d rather not be out of a Big Title after one day, but when you’re ordering three months ahead of time…and even getting a chance to adjust orders about three to four weeks prior…sometimes you just can’t predict how something’s going to go over. We ordered five times on this Justice League #1 what we normally order on Justice League of America, and up until about a week or so before the #1’s release, that seemed like plenty. And then the media attention hit, and lo and behold people seemed to care, and the demand jumped upwards. I tried to place a reorder ahead of the comic’s release, but by that time all available copies of the first printing had sold out.
I did get a number of requests for the comic over the weekend, so yeah, I could have sold quite a few more copies. Now, had DC had more of Justice League #1 available, I suppose it could have been theoretically possible to receive more copies by Friday via Diamond’s two-day air shipping on reorders, if we had the time to put an order together and we get in it to Diamond early enough for them to process it right away. I could plan ahead, prep a theoretical emergency reorder a couple of days before, and then send it in Wednesday morning if necessary. But then again, even if demand seems high, pulling the trigger on a significant reorder before actually seeing if the demand pans out could be an expensive mistake. About halfway through Wednesday it looked like we’d have enough JL #1 to meet the immediate demand, but later in the day, and through Thursday, sales and demand picked up and we blew through our copies. But it easily could have dropped off completely, and getting another pile of copies on top of the ones we already had warming the shelves would be a problem.
Now, like I said, once we got closer to the release day, JL #1 started to seem like it was really going to take off, so a prerelease reorder seemed like a good risk. But for the other titles…well, here’s your next question:
“Have you done anything to change the orders for the rest of September now that this happened?”
Yes, I’ve gone through and bumped up some numbers, keeping in mind that, even if some of the titles are returnable, we still have to plan our budget to pay for these books. I’d love to order a thousand of everything, and return what we couldn’t sell, but we’d still have to cough up the cash to pay for all those copies.
“Does the system of ordering/printing comics just not compute?”
Most of the time, the way we order comics through the direct market is fine. We see what we’ve been selling on the books in the past, we plan our orders accordingly, we send them in. Even on new first issues, we can make reasonably educated guesses based on the store’s sales trends. But this new DC initiative is fairly unprecedented. We have to guess at sales on these new series vis-à-vis past sales trends, customer interest in first issues, possible bleed-over interest generated by real-world publicity for Justice League #1, and, maybe most importantly, the “first issue fatigue” I discussed before.
I mean, let’s take All-Star Western, starring Jonah Hex. On one hand, sales on the Jonah Hex series were pretty terrible. On the other hand, All-Star Western is a new first issue, which can expect a slight bump in sales. On the other, other hand, it says “Western” in the title, and westerns aren’t big sellers in the superhero comics market. On the other, other, other hand, it’s tied in a little more closely to the DC Universe, taking place in Gotham City an’ all. But it’s not like Batman’s going to show up. But it could ride that “hey, it’s a new DC #1, let’s buy it” wave. But it’s still a Jonah Hex comic. But it’s returnable. And so on. Again, love to order a ton of them, and just return what we don’t sell, but we have to operate within a realistic budget.
“Is it too much to ask DC to have a pile of extra copies of JLA ready to be shipped out. Or does a reprint business model and the new, variant covers make more sense for all parties involved, including the general public getting their greasy hands on this over-priced, under-written 4-color superhero funny book.”
Like us, DC has to operate within a realistic budget. I’m sure they would have loved to have looked at the initial orders, said “hmm, better print up ten times that number to meet reorder demand” and sat on the copies ’til retailers asked for them. But that costs money, and again, there’s no guarantee ahead of time, when the decisions are being made to actually go to press, that there would be that much demand. Publishers generally do some overprinting to allow for replacement shipments on items that are lost or damaged, plus some allowance for reorders, but within reason.
That they announced a second printing, and a third printing, so quickly means that they were staying on top of things, at least. Economically, this makes more sense for DC than tying up money in a stockpile of extra first printings. And it’s good for us, because it’ll meet the demand for customers who just want to read the thing, and couldn’t care less about “first printing” or “investment opportunity” or what have you.
…That was a lot to read, I realize. Also, I’m on the cold medication, so if something doesn’t make sense, ask me to clarify.
So the general reaction from our customers to the onslaught of DC #1s quickly making its way to us has ranged from interest and excitement to “I’m giving up on DC.” It’s been a bit hard to predict just how these books are going to do, as customer response has been so mixed. And I just know that, no matter how much promotional material we put into folks’ hands, there’s gonna be at least one regular customer walking into the shop in September who will be shocked…shocked…that DC started all their books over from #1.
Anyway, I thought I’d go through the list of all these #1s and let you know what I plan to get. Or am thinking about getting. …Because it’s my weblog, that’s why.
Justice League #1 – I don’t think it’s any stretch to assume that, of all the new DC #1s, this will be the big one. It’s being released by itself at the end of August (along with the last part of the Flashpoint mini that’s leading into the big changeover) and surely most folks will be picking this up out of sheer curiosity, to see what exactly the new DC Universe status quo is going to be. That’s certainly a big reason why I’m picking it up…well, that, and it’s not like I’ll be buying a whole lot of DC Comics that week. (I’ve not been following Flashpoint, though that same curiosity may have me checking out that mini’s last issue to see how it’s setting everything up.) But I also tend to pick up whatever new iteration of Justice League happens to pop up, even if I end up not following it for long.
Action Comics #1 – I’ve been reading the main Superman titles for probably about 30 years now, through thick and thin, through mulleted Superman and Electric Superman, so I’m not stoppin’ just because they restarted the series from the first issue. Plus, it’s Grant Morrison on scripting chores, and I do like the Morrison.
Animal Man #1 – Speaking of Morrison, I was a big fan of his run on Animal Man, and I kept on with the title after Morrison’s departure, which maintained its sense of weirdness while still further developing Buddy Baker’s family life. I have a bit of fondness for the character still, whetted by that Last Days of Animal Man mini from a couple of years ago, so I’m going to give this a try. Plus, Jeff Lemire is writing, and more on that under the Frankenstein entry.
Justice League International #1 – This is in the “maybe” pile, as the main reason I’m interested in it is that it features Booster Gold written by his creator, Dan Jurgens. I was quite enjoying the Booster Gold series DC had been publishing of late, and sadly it was not one of the titles to make the transition to the new army of #1s. And I’m sure we’re not getting “The Adventures of Booster and His Justice League Pals,” so I don’t know how much actual Booster content will be in each issue. But, I’ll give it a look.
Swamp Thing #1 – Well, duh.
Batwoman #1 – The only Bat-book I’m buying (aside from Justice League International, which isn’t quite the same but you know what I mean). Being purchased primarily for the art of J.H. Williams, who has been doing absolutely beautiful work with this character.
Demon Knights #1 – Was going to be a “maybe,” but I’ve got every other Demon comic, so, heck, might as well pick it up. Plus, it’s written by Paul Cornell, and having enjoyed his recent stint on Action Comics, I imagine I’ll enjoy this series as well.
Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1 – Wouldn’t have considered this, except the War Rocket Ajax crew convinced me to pick up the Jeff Lemire-scripted Flashpoint: Frankenstein tie-in, and that was a hoot. Lemire is writing this new series as well, so I’m definitely putting it on the buy pile.
Green Lantern #1 – Green Lantern is like Superman, in that he’s one of those characters/concepts I’ll usually always follow (though admittedly I skipped most of those Kyle-Rayner-as-GL years in the ’90s). I like how this series is starting, with old GL archnemesis Sinestro roped back into the Green Lantern Corps and starring in this book, but of course Hal Jordan will be back in the saddle in short order. In the meantime, though, I’m really looking forward to this book as Sinestro has always been one of my favorite supervillains.
Mister Terrific #1 – Probably picking this up, as I liked the character in Justice Society. Not much else to say, really, other than I like the idea of the hero, the world’s third smartest man, facing against a villain who’s one of the world’s two smarter dudes.
Red Lanterns #1 – Giving it a go because it’s a Green Lantern tie-in, but…not sure if I want to read a book where the entire focus is on the violent and angry Lantern corps. Fine in a supporting role, not sure I want 20 non-stop pages of it. Unless it’s the solo adventures of Dex-Starr, of course.
DC Universe Presents #1 – First story arc stars Deadman, and I’m always up for a Deadman story. Continued purchase of the series depends on which character they follow up Deadman with. I vote Adam Strange. Or Metamorpho. Or hell, both of them in the same adventure.
Green Lantern Corps #1 – Again, GL fan, so I’ll pick up the book. Hey, Kilowog is in it. I’m pretty sure I have the complete Kilowog collection.
The Fury of Firestorm #1 – Another one of my favorite characters, and I’ll always read a Firestorm series. I’m not even sure I can explain why Firestorm is a favorite character of mine.
Green Lantern: New Guardians #1 – While I like the idea of multiple-colored Lantern corps, I like them better as support characters in the other GL titles, rather than starring in their own book. (See also Red Lanterns above.) This is stretching the franchise just a little too thin, I think…but the three GL series that had been running before were selling great, even after the movie came out, so what do I know.
Justice League Dark #1 – Because John Constantine is in it. And Deadman. …I expect this comic will be very peculiar.
Superman #1 – The one Superman title taking place in “current day” (as opposed to Action, focusing mostly on Superman’s early years). It’s written and drawn…well, laid out…by George Perez, so I expect I’ll enjoy it, but it’s gonna be a while before I’m used to that new Super-armor costume.
…And that’s it, really. I may poke my nose into some of the other #1s to see if they grab my interest. I may try out the new Aquaman series, for example, or give a look to the new Jonah Hex title All-Star Western.
I am curious which titles will end up catching on. There are a few that seem doomed from the get-go, and others that will almost certainly undergo an immediate creative team change once it becomes obvious the monthly schedule just ain’t gonna happen. And while it’s a safe bet titles like Action and Green Lantern will have healthy sales, what about the second-stringers? Which of the not-so-big-name titles are going to be the breakout hits? It’ll be very interesting to see what thrives and what withers, particularly given the large number of new series and the limited consumer dollar available to purchase all these. I certainly hope every single title sells enormously well, but sadly we’ll being seeing a lot of bodies left at the side of the road as this publishing initiative progresses.
Two things that struck me while reading the latest Complete Peanuts volume:
1. This book is reprinting from the years 1979-1980, which is also about the same time I was reading just about every Peanuts strip reprint book I could lay my hands on at the time. So, I was reading a whole lot of strips from before 1979, but not a whole lot of contemporary ones which hadn’t yet made it into the reprint books at the time. As a result…nearly this entire book feels “new” to me, since I recognize almost none of the strips. I suppose I may have caught a few in the paper, but I wouldn’t recall those as well as the strips I’ve seen in the various Peanuts collections that I would read over and over again.
Yes, that means I didn’t really read any of the reprint collections from the early 1980s onward. I wouldn’t get back into seeking out Peanuts books ’til the late 1990s, reprinting those last few years of the strip.
2. There’s a sequence of strips in this book where the gang attends what appears to be some kind of religious cult summer camp. I may be reading a bit into this, but clearly something has gone horribly wrong when this kind of injustice is perpetrated upon innocent youth:
Those
monsters.
Anyway, Peppermint Patty gets a bit freaked out by one of the guest speakers going on about “the last days” and the end of the world. Not a storyline I really expected in my Peanuts book, but yet another example of Charles Schulz’s continuing topicality…though in this case, the regular arising of doomsayers is nothing new and was bound to cycle through again. SPOILER ALERT: Peppermint Patty gathers evidence and uses skeptical, critical thinking to resolve her particular issue here.
• • •
I’m kind of all “new DC”-ed out at the moment, so I’m breaking from the commentary…even though as I write this, we’re only hours away from the official announcement of what the hell’s going on with the Superman family of books. The pics already leaked…via DC putting them in their blog’s image directory and people finding them…so we’ve all already seen them by now, I’m sure. And that pic with Superman’s new costume…that only goes to show George Perez can make
anything look great. Anyway, those of you reading this Friday morning or later can hie yourself hither to the
DC Comics weblog and check ’em out yourself.
About the titles announced Thursday…I guess we can blame that movie for the more striking and recognizable Jonah Hex title for going away, to be replaced by the Hex-starring and more blandly-titled All-Star Western. And I’m not sure why a new series starring the grandson of Sgt. Rock amuses me, but it does.
BUT I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT NEW DCS AT THE MOMENT so shutting up now.
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